South Africa - Safari Recommendations

[stilldazed]

So I've bitten the bullet! Booked flights to Johannesburg at the end of Aug.

I would really appreciated any recommendations for 2 weeks in south Africa especially safari suggestions.

Thank you!

When we went we drove around South Africa, here are some of the places that we visited, it was amazing

Cape Town - Table Mountain
Boulder Beach - to see the penguins
https://www.oudtshoorn.com/ - caves and ostrich farm
https://www.tsitsikamma.info/listing/tsitsikamma-wolf-sanctuary-22-2019-75 - wolf sactuary
https://knysnaelephantpark.co.za/ - elephant sactuary
https://viljoensdrift.co.za/ - winery with a picnic river tour
https://www.botlierskop.co.za/ - safari
https://www.lionsrock.org/ - lion sactuary

Thank you so much, I really appreciated it!

We booked through Discover Africa, our contact was Megan Warrington and we travelled last September. We arrived in Cape Town (via Jo'burg) for six days, then flew to Jackalberry (part of Thornybush near Kruger) 4 days, Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe 4 days, Kasane in Botswana was our last stop on our safari, we were there another 4 days. We flew out from Jo'burg.

Cape Town is spectacular but our best experiences were out of the city at Stellenbosch or Hermanus. It is a spectacular country. The absolute highlights were our safari days. We're hoping to go back one day.

Kruger National Park is your best for safari.
Try Aardvark Safaris in the UK for lodge/guide bookings.

Expert Africa or Yellow Zebra Safaris are good uk agents

We spent 5 days in Cape Town - there is so much to do: whale watching nr hermanus, boulders beach, Robben Island, table mountain...

We then did 5 days in Kruger staying at Jock Safari Lodge. It was amazing, however I think 5 days on safari was plenty for me. You go out very early in the morning then again near dusk. The rest is downtime with not much to do (except relax!)

We also did three days at Victoria falls.
Booked the whole thing through Virgin.
You will have an amazing time OP!

What's your budget?

(I'm an SA citizen and I have spent a lot of time staying/living in and around game reserve areas in the NE).

We went with DC.
We did 4 days at Pilansberg (tarmac roads) and then 4 days Madikwe (rough tracks). Was ace. Topped and tailed with 2 nights each side in Sun City which worked for us as a family.

Aardvark Safaris are great. We booked through them several times. They're a small specialist operator and really know their stuff.

@stilldazed I see people are recommending Cape Town. Are you prepared to fly down there? You might as well have booked flights there in the first place! You might like to look into whether you went Cape Town and Hermanus (whales) or not as it’s a big call to go there.

Sun City is pure relaxation but other areas can offer this. From Joburg you need to decide how you will travel. Are you going to fly to Mbombela which is the gateway to Kruger? I can very much recommend this safari area and Sabi Sands. We went to Nottens Bush Camp. You can spend vast sums on camps so look at ones to suit your budget.

Also be aware that lots of SA game parks are rewilded farms. I’ve never been near a reserve with a tarmac road. We always choose very wild areas! So decide what you want. We also like Hluhluwe Imfolozi which is 3 hours north of Durban. There’s also the St Lucia wetlands, now name changed I think! These are KwaZuluNatal which is fantastic.

So I think you need to consider; do you go to Cape Town? Which safari area and whether you see it as a truly wild experience or not? Which one and how will you get there? Kruger is no 1 but obviously other areas might appeal but SA is a huge country. There’s also the Drakensburgs which is a beautiful area and there are some amazing relaxing places to stay. Always look at guest houses. SA has brilliant ones.

To expand a bit on our logic:
. We wanted to be malaria free.
. We didn't want any internal flights.
. DDs were 7 and 13 and we aren't adventurous travellers so wanted to feel 'safe'.
. Sun City meant we could relax into SA after the overnight flight, and it was DDs first experience of a big hotel.
. Pilansberg was a good introduction, but Madikwe was lovely with baby elephants and lion cubs, perfect for DD2.